


Butterflies and Hurricanes

by Nymiri



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: I just want Kevin to be happy, Kayleigh Lives, More Tags to be added as I go, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, i already have an au idea for this au, somebody stop me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 15:37:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15844284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nymiri/pseuds/Nymiri
Summary: What changes when Kayleigh Day doesn't die in that car crash? Turns out...A LOT.





	Butterflies and Hurricanes

**Author's Note:**

> I finally took the plunge and decided to write a fanfic....And made the decision to make my first fic a multi-chaptered au, in which Kayleigh never died. Which, as it turns out changes quite a lot of stuff. Hopefully, you enjoy it!
> 
> Huge thanks to everyone on my aftg discord, couldn’t have written this without your help and encouragement!
> 
> [My Tumblr](https://minyardsminion.tumblr.com/) Feel free to come and talk to me!

Kayleigh had never liked Riko Moriyama.

Of course, she felt sorry for the boy; after hearing Tetsuji explain that Riko was living with him because his father was far too busy with his work to concern himself with parenting Riko. Well, having had two working parents who had little time for her, Kayleigh sympathised. Still…The young boy troubled her and she couldn’t quite put her finger on why. 

Her attention snapped back to the Exy game that was happening in front of her. Kevin passed Riko the ball, Riko dodged his backliner and sprinted forwards, once his allotted ten steps were up, he aimed and shot the ball towards the goal. Kayleigh could see immediately that he wasn’t going to score, he was too far away, the angle was too awkward. The smarter play would have been to pass the ball to Kevin, who was, by this point, in a much better position to be able to score than Riko was. The ball sailed towards the goal…and just as she had predicted, the goalkeeper caught the incoming ball with ease.

“Stop!” called Tetsuji, who was stood beside her. His loud, commanding voice carried to the players on the court, all of whom stopped what they were doing, and immediately began to jog towards them. 

As the players came closer and removed their helmets she could see Riko’s face, twisted with a mixture of anger and indignation. 

‘And there it is’ Kayleigh thought to herself. There was the thing that bothered her about Riko; the arrogance mixed with the anger was a dangerous combination, even in a young child.

“What did you do wrong in that last play?” Tetsuji was addressing the whole team but Kayleigh could tell his words were meant for Riko, Tetsuji had seen the same mistake that she had. Kayleigh didn’t really approve of Tetsuji’s coaching style, calling out a player in front of their whole team was not the way she would have handled it, but this was his team and she wasn’t about to tell him how to deal with his players.

Silence was the only answer Tetsuji received, Kayleigh’s eyes drifted to Kevin. He was flicking his gaze between her and Tetsuji, looking worried, clearly concerned that he was the one who had made the mistake. She caught his eye and offered him a reassuring smile, which seemed to give him a sense of relief. Riko had been watching them both and out of the corner of her eye, Kayleigh saw him look away, almost in disgust.

“Nobody has an answer for me?” Tetsuji asked again, waiting for a beat for a response, before levelling his gaze on Riko.

A few more seconds passed before Riko caved under his uncle’s unrelenting stare “I missed the shot.” he murmured, avoiding his uncles gaze and instead casting his eyes on the floor.

“Correct, but you should never have taken the shot in the first place, you were in no position to score, you couldn’t have made that shot.”

Kayleigh saw Riko’s face begin to heat up with embarrassment, his fists clenched at his sides. She decided that perhaps now was the time to step in. Perhaps a softer approach would help the situation; Kayleigh thought that sometimes Tetsuji forgot that Riko was just a child, not one of his Raven’s. “One day when you are older and stronger you will make shots like that. The smarter choice would have been to pass the ball to Kevin, he was in a better position to score.”

But rather than help the situation, Kayleigh’s words only seemed to make things worse. Riko’s cheeks reddened further and his eyes snapped from the floor to meet Kayleigh’s. “You don’t know that Kevin would have scored. He probably would have missed too, he’s not as good a shot as I am.”

Kayleigh blinked in stunned silence, not just at Riko’s words but at the tone of voice he had used. Far from the meek mumble that he had used with his uncle, this time Riko had spoken with anger and an edge of malice to his voice. Some of his teammates looked at Riko with wide-eyed shock, including Kevin, but others were looking at Tetsuji warily, waiting to see his reaction. 

Tetsuji, for his part, looked livid, when he spoke his voice came out cold and clipped. “Riko! You will apologise for your insolence, this instant.”

Riko looked at Tetsuji for a moment and something that could have been fear flickered across his face. He returned his gaze to Kayleigh, eyes now scrunched closed, as if the idea of apologising caused him physical pain. “I’m sorry…Master, I shouldn’t have been so rude, please forgive me,” Riko said after a moment, his tone flat, as he bowed his head in a sign of supposed respect.

Kayleigh frowned, privately thinking that he didn’t sound very sorry; she opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind but her thoughts intervened. ‘He’s just a child’ she reminded herself, her mouth snapped shut and she took a deep breath before continuing. “Apology accepted, just remember Riko, this is a team game, you aren’t out there by yourself. It doesn’t matter which striker scores, so long as one of you does.”

Riko opened his mouth as if to argue with her again, but the sharp sound of Tetsuji’s cane tapping on the floor stopped him short.

“That will be the end of practice I think, showers, all of you,” commanded Tetsuji, gesturing towards the door out of the court. The players didn’t need to be told twice as they darted out of the court and towards the changing rooms.

Once the players were out of sight, Tetsuji turned to her, his face lined with concern and annoyance “I’m so sorry about Riko, he should never have been so disrespectful to you, I shall ensure that he is punished for his behaviour.”

“Oh don’t worry about it, no harm done, I’ve heard an awful lot worse than that,” Kayleigh said chuckling. “Besides he’s only young, I’m sure he was more annoyed at himself than me, Kevin does the same thing.” It wasn’t a complete lie, Kevin did have a tendency to get frustrated at himself when he did something wrong but he had rarely taken his annoyance out on others, and certainly never so nastily or arrogantly as Riko.

“Indeed…Speaking of which, Kevin seems to have come on a great deal since you were last here.”

Kayleigh nodded, a wide smile on her lips. “Yes, he really has, he’s been working incredibly hard the last couple of months, and he’s been getting great grades in school too.”

“I see you’ve been doing a good job of keeping him on track.”

Kayleigh hesitated and shook her head at that. “Oh no, it’s all Kevin’s doing, he’s the one that insists on practising every day after school,” Kayleigh said, her voice full of pride.

“Such a strong work ethic in someone so young, perhaps he will come to Edgar Allan and play for the Raven’s,” Tetsuji praised, his smile matching Kayleigh’s.

“Well that’s a good ways off yet, isn’t it? I’ve got to get him through puberty first,” she replied with a laugh

In truth, Kayleigh sometimes worried about Kevin’s dedication to Exy, she sometimes worried that he was missing out on other things to play the sport, she didn't want him wasting his childhood and then looking back with regret. ‘Looking back with regret, you’d know all about that wouldn’t you?’ Said the voice in her head…A voice that sounded suspiciously like David Wymack’s.

“Kayleigh? Are you alright?” Tetsuji’s voice snapped her back to reality and she realised that she’d been staring into space, lost in her own thoughts.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” Kayleigh said hurriedly, she obviously answered too quickly because Tetsuji didn’t look as though he believed her. “I’m just…tired is all.”

“Oh…Perhaps you shouldn’t drive to the airport then. You’re always welcome to stay here.”

“No, no, don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

“Kayleigh, really it’s not safe…For you to be driving in your condition.”

“My condition? I’m tired, not pregnant,” Kayleigh laughed and gave Tetsuji a light punch on the arm. “Ah, here he is, about time, we gotta get going.”

Kayleigh watched as Kevin came up beside her, his hair still damp from the shower. They thanked Tetsuji for having them and Tetsuji tried one last time to get them to stay the night at Edgar Allan, Kayleigh refused. Then, much to her surprise, Tetsuji pulled her into a hug. In general, Tetsuji was not a hugging sort of person, but Kayleigh thought perhaps he still felt bad about Riko’s behaviour.

“Well, goodbye then,” Kayleigh said as Tetsuji released her and she gave his arm a quick squeeze.

“Goodbye Kayleigh,” Tetsuji said softly as he watched them walk through the doors.

 

***********

Kayleigh hummed along with the song on the radio, out of the corner of her eye she could see Kevin; he was slightly slumped in the passenger seat, slowly chewing on a chocolate bar. Kayleigh noted how tired he looked and she once again felt a wave of doubt about Kevin’s choice of hobby. Was he playing so much because he enjoyed it? Or was he only playing because he felt like he should? Kayleigh wondered how best to address the subject…

“Hey, Kev, you know you don’t have to play Exy right?” ‘Nicely done Kayleigh, very subtle’ said that inner voice again.

Kevin just blinked at her in surprise “Ummm…”

“I mean…I just want you to be happy, and if playing Exy doesn’t make you happy then that’s fine by me. I won’t be upset or disappointed in you if you want to stop playing.” ‘Better, much better’.

“Is it…Do you think I should stop playing? Am I not good enough? Is that why?” Kevin asked sadly with an edge of panic. “Cause I can practice more, I’ll get better I just need-”

“Kevin…Sweetie no,you’re great at Exy, that’s not…” Kayleigh took a breath and took her hand off the steering wheel to squeeze hold of Kevin's hand. “I love you so much, you know that don’t you? I love you so much and I want you to have the best life possible, and if you love playing Exy and it makes you happy, then great! But I want you to know that you have options and whatever you decide to do with your life, be it Exy or working as a toilet cleaner, then I’ll support you…Okay?”

Kevin blinked at her again as he digested her words and then his face spread into a wide grin “Even if I tell you I’m never going to get a job and I want to just have you look after me for the rest of my life,” he teased.

Kayleigh laughed with relief “Yes, even then. So long as I have you with me, I’ll be happy.” She gave his hand another squeeze and turned to him to say something else, she had only taken her eyes off the road for a second or two, but that was enough. 

“MUM!” Kevin screamed out, his eyes wide with terror and fixed on the road.

Kayleigh whipped her head forward just in time to see the car that had skidded onto their side of the road, she slammed down the brake but her car barely slowed, something was wrong with the brakes! She instead jerked the steering wheel to the side…and it almost worked. But at the last second, she clipped the other car and they both went spiralling off the road. She saw the tree in front of her and desperately tried the brake again…Nothing. She realised belatedly that she still had hold of Kevin’s hand, she gave it a final squeeze before the car smashed into the tree and her world went black.


End file.
